blast exposed veterans with auditory complaints

Conditions: Hearing Impairment; Hearing Aid Fitting

Summary: the purpose of this study is to study blast-exposed veterans who report hearing handicap but show normal or near normal results on standard audiometric testing. the characteristics and nature of their auditory and auditory-related skills will be examined, along with whether coexisting ptsd contributes to the hearing problems of these veterans. in a preliminary treatment study, a sub-sample of these veterans will be fitted with mild-gain hearing aids to determine if they benefit from low-level amplification of high-frequency sounds.

the purpose of this study is to study blast-exposed veterans who report hearing handicap but show normal or near normal results on standard audiometric testing. the characteristics and nature of their auditory and auditory-related skills will be examined with a battery of behavioral and physiologic measures. the potential contributions of co-occurring ptsd also will be evaluated. in a preliminary treatment study, a sub-sample of the targeted veterans will be fitted with mild-gain hearing aids to determine if they benefit from low-level amplification of high-frequency sounds. this study consists of two parts. in part 1, four groups of veterans, aged 20 - 50 years, will complete a battery of auditory and auditory-related assessments to better understand the deficit sources and patterns. the assessment measures will consist of questionnaires, behavioral tests, and auditory physiologic measures. one group will consist of blast-exposed veterans with auditory problems but no ptsd. the second group will consist of blast-exposed veterans with auditory problems plus ptsd. the third group will consist of veterans with ptsd but no reported auditory problems, and the fourth groups will be a normal control group. in part 2 of the study (clinical trial portion), a smaller group of participants from the first and second groups will be fitted with mild-gain open-fit hearing aids to determine if they benefit from mild high-frequency amplification. changes in hearing handicap and speech perception will be compared from baseline to 6-months post-fitting. perceived hearing aid benefit, hearing aid use time, and intent to continue use will be measured at the end of a 6-month treatment period. a delayed treatment group will be formed from group 1 and will be followed over a 12-month period with hearing aids fitted at 6 months. the participants will be assigned randomly from part 1 of the study. the information obtained from this study will help us understand the auditory problems experienced by blast-exposed veterans and eventually contribute to the development of an efficient and effective assessment battery and intervention approaches.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * age 20 - 50 years; u.s. veteran; * english-speaking; * history of blast exposure and no history of blast exposure; * history of ptsd and no history of ptsd; * self-perceived hearing handicap and no self-perceived hearing handicap; * normal or near normal pure tone hearing thresholds; * history of brain injury and no history of brain injury; * normal vision. exclusion criteria: * hyperacusis; * marked tinnitus; * pure tone hearing thresholds consistent with a hearing loss; * greater the 20/30 vision screening results (corrected or uncorrected); * marked speech perception deficits

Keywords: hearing impairment post-traumatic stress disorder traumatic brain injury auditory processing disorder